If baby is keeping you awake all night, blame the Daddy

Does it feel like your baby is keeping you awake deliberately ? You’re right. The NEED for night feeds is programmed into some babies by their Daddy’s genes.

Your sleep is interrupted by screams of demand for sustenance. As you struggle to roll out of bed so you can satisfy your baby’s insistent calls………….. a thought crosses your mind.

Your baby is keeping you awake deliberately.

Quickly you dismiss this “unacceptable” thought. Good Moms don’t think such things.

But truth be told……….

YOUR BABY IS KEEPING YOU AWAKE, DELIBERATELY

Sleep deprivation is deliberate

Now when it comes to baby’s sleep, there is a direct relationship between how many hours of interrupted sleep you’re getting and what you’re doing.

Babies being sustained on formula, sleep better.

Babies being bottle fed on breast milk, sleep better too.

Babies being nursed, sleep less.

What ?

You’re doing it all natural, the way Mother Nature intended and you’re being PUNISHED.

Not fair

It doesn’t make sense…. isn’t NATURAL supposed to be BETTER ?

Actually it does…..

A recent article published in the Journal of Evolution, Medicine & Health, explains why babies don’t sleep through the night. It turns out, the less sleep you get, the longer it takes for the baby making equipment to come back on line. And this improves the odds your baby will survive.

Lactation amenorrhea saves….

Lives, because it stops future siblings from “stealing” Mom’s resources.

In the era before supermarkets and antibiotics, only the tough survived infancy. In such a world, the more time and resources a Mom devotes to a baby, the better the odds of that child making it.

Of course, Moms & Dad may have other plans. After all, baby making is FUN and big families are cool. Remember, when it comes to quantifying reproductive success, the more the merrier.

So successful babies need to stack the odds, the way to do this………

Waking up Mom is programmed in the genes.

It is in the genes

It is older/bigger babies that sleep most fitfully. The six month mark is when baby’s sleep is most fragmented. The reason, Mother Nature has “deliberately” programmed babies in such a way, that they still need “night feeds” at this stage of the game, despite being BIGGER and more robust.

The night feeds mean Mom’s sleep is disjointed. It is somewhat ironic,

“Breastfeeding has many benefits, but a good night’s sleep is not one of them”
David Haig

The disjointed sleep prevents the ovary from turning back on – no egg princesses, no baby brothers or baby sisters.

The wake mom up genes

The article suggests, the gene(s) that promote “waking up in the middle of the night” are located somewhere on chromosome 15q13. Babies without this region of the genome, either

suck a little and sleep a lot (Prader-Willi syndrome) or

wake up frequently at night (Angelman syndrome).

The same genetic mistake, causing opposite “problems”, how can this be ?

It is Dad’s fault

You always get two sets of genes – one from Dad (paternal) and one from Mom (maternal). Most of the time, both genes contribute to how you turn out. But this particular set of genes is special , you either run one blueprint or the other i.e. you’re either a Dad’s “baby” or a Mommy’s “baby”. The official term for this is imprinting.

When it comes to how well infants sleep, if junior runs the paternal imprint, Mom’s sleep ends up being more fragmented. Your sleepless night is Daddy’s fault !

Sleep deprivation is normal

Let’s be honest, the sleep deprivation is one of the biggest downsides of motherhood, but it is perfectly normal.

The natural fix, is co-sleeping, it is how our ancestors did it. In this scenario you don’t actually have to be 100% awake, to feed and cuddle. This strategy will also help you turn your man into a Dad.

The less natural fix, bottle feeding, preferably using “fresh” breast milk. Studies suggest babies can tell the difference, suckling is what drives the waking, not food.

Further reading

Being a Mom is a huge responsibility and knowing how to protect and optimize your family’s health is challenging. Get tips and strategies from the world of science and help your little ones have Better Body Chemistry so they grow up healthy and avoid the lifestyle diseases.

I have put together a series of TIPS to help Moms create Better Body Chemistry…

Disclaimer : The stories and articles are provided as a service. Dr Sandy's opinions are for information only, and are not intended to diagnose or prescribe. For your specific diagnosis and treatment, consult your doctor or health care provider.